There were dragons when I was a boy
by dreaming-about-dragons
Summary: There was a time when there were dragons. When Vikings and dragons fought each other in order to survive. A time when a boy and a dragon showed everyone what true friendship and loyalty is really all about. HiccupxOC
1. Chapter 1

**I got the idea for this story one time when I thought about "There were dragons when I was a boy...". I`ve been thinking about what they could do with that for the third movie. Lately I´ve been thinking about that phrase and got some ideas for a new story.**

**The story will take place during HTTYD and HTTYD 2. Some scenes will be similar to the movies, but not exactly the same. This is not a "rewrite of the movie fanfic", more of a story of a time when there were dragons. Like in the books, Hiccup is narrating, but telling the story in third person.**

* * *

_There were dragons when I was a boy. So many of them. Different shapes and colors and different abilities. They attacked us. Dragons burned down our houses, dragons got killed, our people got killed, and they took our livestock. We spent years fighting them and trying to survive. We captured some of them and trained our young in killing dragons. But one day everything changed. One action changed everything, and nothing would ever be the same._

* * *

Hiccup ran to the forge and slammed the door behind him to shut out the fire from the dragon that had followed him. The dragons were back. His heart was pounding and he was breathing fast from running. The dragons were back. Both his heart and his breathing started to slow down as he began to calm down a little. Maybe he would have a chance this time. To prove that he wasn`t as useless as they all thought. Prove that he could kill a dragon.

He opened the door but quickly closed it again when he saw that the dragon was still right outside. Maybe not right this second. And maybe he could use something, a weapon. He couldn`t just walk out there empty-handed again. This was the forge, there were plenty of things to use.

It took him a minute or two to choose, but when he had chosen a sword, he opened the door again. No dragon. He walked out and closed the door behind him and started running. But he didn`t come as far as he hoped before someone grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"What are you doing out here?!" It was Stoick. "This is not the place for you right now!"

"But I… I can… I want to…" Hiccup said, trying to say a whole sentence, wanting to say something that would convince his father to give him a chance.

"You are just gonna get yourself killed! Or everyone else killed! Go home!"

"But I can help. I can, just give me a chance!"

"No! Now you listen to me. I have enough to worry about, I don`t want to worry about you or what you will do, so go… Gobber! Follow Hiccup to the forge and make sure he stays there!"

"Aye" Gobber said. "Come here, Hiccup. You know you can`t be out here right now."

Hiccup sighed and started walking after Gobber towards the forge. Suddenly Gobber pulled him in front of him and he lost balance. The fire missed him by a few inches. He heard Gobber yell at the dragon while he fought it and defeated it.

When they came to the forge, Gobber pushed Hiccup inside.

"What did you think you were doing? You`re not even supposed to be outside when the dragons attack."

"You sound like my dad."

"Then maybe you should listen."

"Did you notice there are dragons out there, attacking us?" Hiccup looked at him with raised eyebrows and tilted head. "And I´m the only one who is not out there helping."

"Because you´re not exactly helping" Gobber said. "We always have to clean up your mess."

"But we are Vikings, we fight dragons. I need to kill a dragon. Then maybe they wouldn`t hate me. Then maybe. I could get a girlfriend."

Gobber looked at hm. He felt sorry for the short and skinny boy, much smaller than the rest of them. But Hiccup wasn`t like the rest of them, he didn`t belong in the fight with the dragons. It would only get him killed sooner or later. Probably a lot sooner.

"Just stay here. You hear me? Stay here, and don`t move." He turned around half way and then turned to Hiccup again. "Stay."

"I`m not a dog."

"Then maybe you should learn to listen."

Gobber left him and ran towards a dragon and screamed. Hiccup sighed. They really didn`t think much of him. Not even his father and Gobber. Especially not his father. His father never thought much of him; he had always been a disappointment. Not the tall, big, strong and brave son he always hoped for. No. What he got was a failure. But he was going to show them.

He walked to the doorway and watched the chaos. People and dragons fighting, houses burning. He looked up at the sky and saw something black move across the sky. Night Fury. A Night Fury. If he could kill a Night Fury they would respect him, they would cheer for him. And he might just get a girl.

A bola thrower. That was perfect. He could hit a dragon with a bola. It was on wheels and he just had to pull a lever, so he didn`t have to throw it himself, and it would be easy to aim.

While he was running through the village with the bola thrower, no one stopped him, but many wondered why he was outside and not in the forge like he was told. Hiccup just told them he would be back in a minute. He ran up to the hill and looked for the Night Fury. There it was, just a black spot in the sky. He followed it as it moved across the sky, aiming to get a good shot. When he fired he held his breath. He heard the dragon scream and saw a black spot fall. He hit it! He hit a Night Fury!

"Ha ha!" Hiccup danced around with his arms in the air. "Did you see that? Did anyone see that?"

He suddenly stopped. A big Monstrous Nightmare was standing right in front of him.

"Except you". Hiccup said.

The dragon growled. Hiccup shook his head, like he woke up, realized he should run. He turned around and started running for his life. His heart was pounding and he would be lying if he said he wasn`t scared. He wasn`t the fastest runner in the village and the dragon was a lot bigger than he was. But that didn`t take much.

"Hiccup, what the hell are you doing?" Astrid yelled.

"Running!"

"Chief, your useless son is gonna get us all in trouble!" someone yelled.

Stoick looked around and saw his son run, chased by a Monstrous Nightmare. Why couldn`t that boy just listen and do what he was told? It always ended in disaster. He started running towards Hiccup and the dragon, hoping it wouldn`t barbeque him before he got there.

Hiccup hid behind a pillar. The dragon was about to breathe fire on him when Stoick came running and slammed a hammer on its head. The dragon breathed fire on Stoick, but the flame wasn`t big enough to reach him and when he tried again no fire came out of his mouth.

"Ha! Need to recharge? Not when I`m here."

Stoick fought the dragon, and since it couldn't breathe fire for a while it wasn`t as superior as it would have been if it could breathe fire. Before Stoick defeated the dragon, it flickered its tail and hit Hiccup who flew into the pillar. On top of the pillar was an enormous bowl with fire. It fell to the ground and rolled through the village.

"Oh, that`s great Hiccup." Snotlout said. "Trying to burn down the village. Like the dragons need help."

"It wasn`t my fault" Hiccup said. "And I hit a Night Fury."

"Right, and I told a Zippelback to sit and it did" Tuffnut said.

"I did hit a Night Fury, I caught it" Hiccup said. "If we go look for it, you`ll see."

"You are not going anywhere but home" Stoick said. " And this time you listen, you hear?! I need to take care of the damage you created."

He looked so disappointed that Hiccup couldn´t look at him. He looked at the ground.

"That wasn`t my fault…"

"Why can`t you do as you are told? Not go outside when we are under attack."

"We are Vikings, I`m a Viking, so I just have to kill a dragon" Hiccup said while gesturing with his hands.

"You are many things, but a dragon killer you are not" Stoick said. "Gobber, take him home."

Hiccup followed Gobber to the Haddock house. Gobber talked, but Hiccup mostly listened. He was a disappointment, but that was nothing new. Nothing ever went his way. Nothing he ever did was good enough. His father hated him.

"He doesn`t hate you" Gobber said,"he`s just disappointed."

"Yeah, he wanted someone tall and strong and brave, not a talking fishbone. He hates me."

"He doesn`t hate you, he`s just disappointed. You need to be less like you, all of you."

"Gee, thanks" Hiccup said and rolled his eyes. He put his hand on the door knob, but turned to Gobber again. "I just want to be one of you guys."

He walked inside and closed the door. Yeah, he just wanted to be one of them. To belong somewhere.

He waited awhile to be sure that Gobber had gone and then walked to the back of the house and opened the shutters. He got out through the window and ran towards the woods.


	2. Chapter 2

Night turned into day. Dark gave into daylight. It was brighter now than when Hiccup first left the village to look for the dragon. He had been walking for awhile without finding the dragon and started to mutter to himself. Other people lost a pen, a sock, a mug. But no, he had to lose an entire dragon. The woods weren`t that big, but he couldn`t even find the dragon he knew he caught in the bola. Why couldn`t he have just this one thing?

Then suddenly he saw something big and black in front of him, and crouched quickly behind a fallen tree. He straightened up just enough to look over the big tree and then crouched again. It was the Night Fury. The most dangerous dragon in the world was right in front of him. And he was entangled in the bola and couldn`t move. Hiccup`s heart was beating so fast and hard, but this was his chance and he had to take it. He was going to kill a dragon. He was going to kill a Night fury.

He stood up and slowly walked to the black dragon. Although he was unable to move, Hiccup still felt a bit scared. When he stood there with the dragon in front of him he felt a bit more confident. He could kill a dragon. And when he had, people would appreciate him a lot more, they would respect him. He took his knife.

The dragon had turned his head as much as it could to look at him. The bola was so tight around his body that he couldn`t even flicker his tail. Hiccup looked at the green eye and then looked at the spot where the heart would be. He raised the knife over his head and held it with two hands.

"I´m going to kill you, you monster" Hiccup said, more to himself than to the dragon. "I`m a Viking, and we kill monsters like you. I´m going to prove to them that I am a real Viking."

But as he stood there with the knife over his head, he started to hesitate. The dragon made some sounds, but he didn`t roar or growl. He sounded hurt, afraid. Hiccup looked at the dragon`s face again. Saw the fear in his eye. And he saw something else. Hiccup still tried to convince himself to kill the dragon. But he couldn`t. He couldn`t kill the dragon. He couldn`t kill a dragon that looked at him like that. Like it was like him.

Hiccup took a deep breath, then lowered the knife and started to cut the ropes. When the dragon was free, he flew at Hiccup. Hiccup stumbled back and was stopped by a big rock. He was sure that the dragon would finish him. The dragon growled and opened his big mouth and roared. But then it turned away from him and ran off. Hiccup sat there and blinked. He was okay. He was still alive. He let out a shaky sigh and got up on his feet. But he was in shock and his knees were shaking so much he could only take a few steps before he fainted.

When he woke up, the dragon was gone. He couldn`t see it but thought it was best to get back to the village. The dragon hadn`t killed him, not even hurt him, but it was a Night Fury after all. He thought about the Night Fury all the way back to the village. The sounds he made. The fear in his eyes. But then it was the other thing. It had been like seeing himself.

When Hiccup were lying in his bed that night, he was thinking about the Night Fury again. The Night Fury was a very dangerous dragon, they all knew that. So why didn`t it hurt him? He was going to kill him and he didn`t even scratch him.

* * *

The next day was the first day of dragon training. Not something Hiccup really looked forward to. Given the previous day, he wasn`t able to kill a dragon. But when he tried to talk to his dad, it didn`t go that well. So here he was. But these dragons were not tied up. Besides, the rest of the students didn`t like him, didn`t want him there, and would not make it easy for him. So why did he have to be there?

The others, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Astrid and Ana were all excited about dragon training and learning how to really fight a dragon. Tuffnut wanted to get burns, Ruffnut was hoping for some mauling. Astrid said it wasn`t any fun if you didn`t get a scar out if it. But they were not too enthusiastic about Hiccup being there.

"Why is he even here?" Tuffnut asked.

"Yeah" Snotlout said. "I mean, come on!" Snotlout pointed at him with his hands. "He`s, he`s… you know. A failure".

_Gee, thanks for always pointing that out, _Hiccup thought.

"He did say he hit a Night Fury" Ana said, but didn`t sound like she believed it.

"Then he doesn`t have to be here, right?" Snotlout asked.

"I want to be with the cool Vikings" Tuffnut said.

"Now kids, come on" Gobber said. "You have a lot to learn today. We are going to start with type of dragon and what abilities they have". He put his hand on Hiccup`s shoulder and gently pushed him in to the arena. "Don`t worry. You are too small and weak for them to pay any attention to you."

Great. He wasn`t even good enough for the dragons to think of him as a threat. Hiccup walked after the others. They stopped in the middle of the arena. Gobber opened the cages one by one and told them about the breed. Gronckle, Hideous Zippelback, Terrible Terror, Deadly Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare. Fishlegs recited the statistics. Speed, deadly and so on. Gobber got more and more annoyed.

"Would you just shut up?!"

Fishlegs immediately stopped talking.

"Now" Gobber said, when he had showed them all the dragons in the cages "starts the real training. It is all about surviving." He opened the door and let a Gronckle out.

"Aren`t you gonna teach us first?" Snotlout asked with a tone of panic.

"I believe in learning on the job. Now what do you need?"

"A doctor?" Hiccup asked.

"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs asked.

"Shield!" Astrid said.

"Yes!" Gobber said. "Go! Your most important equipment is the shield. If you have to choose, always choose the shield."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were arguing over a shield they both wanted. They didn`t pay any attention to the Gronckle, so they never saw it coming and suddenly a fireball split the shield in two. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were dazed on the ground.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut. You`re out!"

Snotlout tried to impress Astrid, wanting her to come to his house and work out. But she wasn`t interested in that, and she had much more important things to think about right now. Snotlout got hit by a fireball.

"Snotlout, you're done." Gobber said. As he said that, Fishlegs shield was blasted out is hand and he was also done. "Only Astrid, Ana and Hiccup left. Get out there Hiccup."

The Gronckle flew towards them. Astrid and Ana ran in opposite directions, but Hiccup was too slow and the fireball almost hit him. He ran, but another fireball landed close to him. He was close to the wall and just turned around and slid down and sat there while he saw the Gronckle get ready for another blast.

Gobber placed his hook in the Gronckle`s mouth and forced it to turn around.

"That`s enough, back to bed you overgrown sausage. You`ll have a new chance tomorrow." He threw the dragon back in its cage. "Remember: a dragon will always – always- go for the kill!"

* * *

**A/N. Someone asked me if Eyla will be in this story and she will not. She belongs in A New Dragon Rider and she will stay there.**

**I hope you will like this story. As always every view, favorite, follow and review is very much appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

Hiccup was walking in the woods, thinking about the dragon training and what Gobber said. He came to the cove and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the black dragon shoot to the sky, but he hit the wall before he was all the way up and fell down.

_Remember; a dragon will always go for the kill, _Gobber said.

"So why didn`t you?" Hiccup said to himself.

The dragon had scared him half to death, but he hadn`t even hurt him. Why? Why didn`t he even try to kill him?

Hiccup watched the dragon trying to get out of the cove. He was flying very unbalanced and unsteady and hit the walls several times. Why couldn`t he fly properly? Hiccup took out his notebook and a pen and drew the dragon. When he had drawn the tailfin he looked at it and then held the pen on the left side. He only had one tailfin. That`s what was making it so difficult to fly.

Hiccup knew there were fish in the pond, but not enough to give the dragon enough food. And if the dragon couldn`t get out of the cove, it would starve and die. Hiccup couldn`t help but feel guilty. He did this to him. Mayabe…. he could bring him some fish…

* * *

When Hiccup came home his father was sitting at the table in the big room.

"Hey dad…" Hiccup began. " I don`t think I can do the dragon training."

"Why not son? Stoick asked. "You wanted to learn."

"Yeah, well I don`t think I can, let me rephrase that, I can`t kill a dragon."

"You always said you wanted to kill a dragon." Stoick walked towards him." You`ll learn. Hopefully."

"Don`t we need more bakers, or fishermen or…"

"How do you think it would look if the chief`s son quits dragon training after only one day?"

"But dad…"

"No buts. You are in dragon training and you will learn how to kill dragons, just like you always wanted. And the gods help us." He walked towards the door.

"This conversation is very one-sided."

"You are going to dragon training again tomorrow, no arguments. And try to stay out of trouble, will you?" He opened the door. "I will be back in a few hours.".

Hiccup sighed. That went well. Or not.

* * *

Hiccup didnt have much choice than to go to dragon training the next day. He didn`t want to disappoint his father, well, more than he aready had. If that was even possible.

The others were walking as a group to the arena. Hicupp kept some distance from them. They wouldn`t pay much attention to him anyway; they didn`t want him there. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were argung about something, like always. It didn`t matter what they were talking about, it always ended in an argument. And even if they agreed, they had to hurt each other in some way. They liked hurting each other. Snotlout tried to get Astrid to agree to liking him, which everyone ecxept Snotlout could see that she didn`t..

Gobber was already at the arena, with a Gronckle in a cage. Hiccup sighed when he realized that yesterdays lesson would be repeated today. He could only hope it would go better than yesterday. But he didn`t have to wait long before he realized it wouldn`t be much better than yesterday. In fact, it was even worse.

When Gobber let out the Gronckle everyone ran to the pile of shields, axes and swords. Astrid took an axe while running and avoided a fireball from the dragon. Once again, Tuffnut and Ruffnut were arguing about a shield and Gobber yelled "You`re out!" when a fire ball hit the shield which made both twins fall to the ground.

Hiccup first just stood where he was, looking at the others, then he ran towards the pile of weapons and picked a shield. But it was heavier than he thought and he almost lost balance when he tried to pick it up on the run. So he had to stop, pick it up and then continue. He dodged some fireballs that the Gronckle fired at him. Hiccup wasn`t sure if it was some kind of revenge for not getting to injure him the day before.

He slid as he turned to avoid getting hit by the fireball. And ran straight into Ana. They both fell to the ground. The shield hit Ana`s leg and she screamed. A fireball landed a couple of inches from them and they rolled a few times to get away.

"Damn it, Hiccup!" Ana said angrily. Do you always have to be in the way? Can`t you just look where you`re going?"

"I`m… I`m sorry", Hiccup said.

What was he supposed to do? She was the one who was suddenly in front of him. He didn`t even see her…

"That`s it for today!" Gobber yelled and threw the Gronckle in its cage. "This groupe have some serious problems", he said, more to himself than anyone in particular.

The group gathered in front of Gobber.

"You have to focus!" He yelled at them. "Focus people! If you are going to learn how to kill dragons, you need to learn to focus. No arguing about shields", he said and looked at the twins, "look where you are going", he looked at HIccup, " and most importantly, pay attention!"

He looked at all of them. Astrid seemed to be the only one who really had potential right now. She knew how to handle an axe, she was fast and determined. Ana did have some potential too. Fishlegs knew a lot about the dragons and their abilities, but fighting them was another thing. And Hiccup… Gobber had talked Stoick into letting him do dragon training, but… He sighed.

"Scram! And please, be better tomorrow."

Hiccup felt a bit relieved when Gobber let them go. Could this get any worse? He probably wouldn`t be able to kill a dragon, no matter how much he wanted to. And then he thought about the Night Fury. He couldn`t kill it. He couldn`t even talk himself into hurting it. How was he supposed to kill a dragon?

* * *

Hiccup had taken one of the smaller hampers and filled it with fish, only enough not to be missed, and was now standing at the entrance to the cove and looked down on the black Night Fury. The dragon was walking around in the sand by the pond. He tried getting out of the cove a few times but didn`t succeed.

Hiccup sat down on the rocks and watched the dragon try. The dragon was a beautiful creature and he almost killed it. Well, almost was probably a bit of a exaggeration. He didn`t know if he would have been able to kill the dragon if he hadn`t looked at him the way he did.

Hiccup took a fish from the hamper and threw it down to the dragon who was now on the ground again. He looked up at him and growled, but walked over to the fish, even if suspiciously. HIccup threw the rest of the fish to him, one at a time. Then he made an attempt to go down, but the Night Fury looked at him, growled and showed his teeth.

"Maybe not today", Hiccup said and stepped back.


End file.
